How could our Brownfields program help your community?

Travel through a community of any size and you’re likely to see old gas stations, shuttered industrial facilities, or former farms – all of which may have environmental contamination. These abandoned or underutilized properties are known as brownfields. Our Brownfields Program helps put them back into use, allowing communities to bring their redevelopment visions to life.

Remediation realized

Ecology works with local governments, non-profits, tribes, and community stakeholders across Washington who are interested in cleaning up brownfields. We can help match your project to one or more of the wide range of federal and state funding and technical assistance opportunities.

Need inspiration to get your brownfield project going? Watch Palouse Mayor Michael Echanove share how his city partnered with Ecology and others to clean up the abandoned, contaminated Palouse Producers property on their main street:



Have a project of your own in mind? We invite you to join our Washington-Brownfields email list to receive updates about our efforts to support communities with redevelopment.

Learn more online

Following on the success of our 2019 Washington State Brownfields Conference, our updated brownfields website includes more information about funding opportunities, how to locate brownfield properties in your community, and access to print materials and presentations from the conference.

If you missed the conference, visit the Center for Creative Land Recycling blog, where they recapped the highlights in their “Brownfield Spotlight in Spokane” June 6 post. Big thanks to the Northwest Environmental Business Council and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as well as to our sponsors, session presenters, and attendees for bringing your knowledge and interest to this important topic! We’ll use feedback received on the follow-up survey to plan future conferences and workshops.

Upcoming events

• Infrastructure Assistance Coordinating Council Conference; October 22–24, 2019; Wenatchee, WA. Come see us; we’re presenting at a few sessions!
• Brownfields 2019: Sustainable Communities Start Here; December 11–13, 2019; Los Angeles, CA
• Stay tuned for information on the spring 2020 Oregon Brownfields Conference. 2018 conference materials are available.

Cleaning Up: Wenatchee’s waterfront revival

By Seth Preston, Communications Manager, Toxics Cleanup Program

The city of Wenatchee’s vision for a revived Columbia River waterfront continues to prove fruitful, thanks in part to seed money from Ecology’s Toxics Cleanup Program (TCP).

In Wenatchee, city officials used a $150,000 integrated planning grant from TCP to develop a plan for reuse of an old landfill along the river (shown at right). Doing so helped the city move ahead with its broader waterfront redevelopment in keeping with the community’s vision.

Several significant projects either are finished or are in the planning stages. They include the Pybus Public Market, which opened in May. It has drawn plenty of media attention, including this recent Associated Press piece.

The market’s development is included in this video about what’s happening along Wenatchee’s waterfront. The video debuted in May at the National Brownfields 2013 Conference in Atlanta.

Dedicated TCP staff members focus on helping communities to examine and possibly redevelop sites known as brownfields – abandoned or underused properties that may be contaminated with toxic materials.

TCP staff use integrated planning grants to support such efforts. Local governments (like cities, counties and ports) use grant money to evaluate a property’s possible environmental issues and explore if it’s worth investing local money to create new economic development, public recreation or habitat restoration opportunities. The governments don’t have to match the grant funds.

For more information:

You can read more about the grants and also watch another video on how communities throughout the state use them.

Also see:

• City of Wenatchee
• Ecology's Toxics Cleanup Program
• Pybus Public Market
• Wenatchee’s fresh face is new public market (Seattle Times)
• Brownfields on Wenatchee's Waterfront (YouTube)
• Brownfields Integrated Planning Grants (Ecology)
• Brownfields Integrated Planning Grants - A Call to Revitalization (YouTube)

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Stories about Getting to Clean Water: Understanding and Controlling Sea Lettuce in Dumas Bay

By Diane Dent, Water Quality Stories Lead, Water Quality Program

Map of Dumas Bay, King County, Washington.

Dumas Bay, near Federal Way in King County, is part of Puget Sound. Three streams drain into the urban 40-acre bay, which is part of the Puyallup-White watershed.

The problem

Residents living along Dumas Bay began to notice excessive amounts of macro algae, better known as sea lettuce, and a very strong odor in the air. Ecology performed inspections and soon determined they were being caused by the sea lettuce.

In 2007, Federal Way began consulting with Ecology about the problem, as well as working with the Departments of Fish and Wildlife, Natural Resources, and Health; Lake Haven Utility District, the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, and local residents.

Federal Way's Surface Water Management (SWM) Division goals for this project included:

• Gaining an understanding of the causes of excess sea lettuce growth and its associated odor problem.

• Helping watershed residents understand the problem and what, if anything, they could do to alleviate it.

• Assessing the health risk posed by hydrogen sulfide (H2S) gases from the decomposing seaweed.

To find out the results of  Federal Way's project, read this full story online.

Story written by Tricia Shoblom, Ecology Northwest Regional Office

Telling our success stories

Water quality success stories provide a wealth of information associated with novel project designs, funding ideas, and useful resource suggestions. Some are clear successes; others supply valuable lessons to help us grow in our understanding of water quality protection and restoration. Stories illustrate successes gained from cooperation among Washington’s citizens and organizations.

Read all of our Ecology's water quality success stories, and check out our complete catalog of stories.

Stories about Getting to Clean Water: Cottage Lake – Watershed Education Helps to Protect a Valuable Resource

By Diane Dent, Water Quality Stories Lead, Water Quality Program

Since the early 1970s, King County’s Cottage Lake has experienced algae blooms due to excessive amounts of phosphorus entering the lake. King County began monitoring the lake and its two inlet streams (Daniels Creek and Cottage Lake Creek) in 1993. As a result of King County’s year-long study, the Cottage Lake Management Plan was created. Data from the lake management plan aided development of the Cottage Lake Water Quality Cleanup Plan (formally known as a Total Maximum Daily Load study) for phosphorus in 2004, followed by the Cottage Lake Water Quality Implementation Plan in 2007.

The problem

Elevated levels of total phosphorus in the lake water led to increased occurrences of blue-green algae blooms. Excessive amounts of noxious weeds, such as White Water Lily and Purple Loosestrife, replaced many native plant species in the lake and its wetland areas. Friends of Cottage Lake (FOCL) spearheaded local efforts in the area to provide education and outreach to residents within the watershed through their website. Once the Cottage Lake Implementation Plan was complete, FOCL and King County worked in partnership to develop the Cottage Lake Total Phosphorus Reduction Plan Grant, provided by Ecology’s Centennial Grant Program.

Milestones and outcomes

King County continues to work in partnership with the FOCL to distribute educational materials and to keep residents interested in protecting Cottage Lake and its watershed. Overall, the response from residents living in the watershed has been positive. However, it has yet to be determined if projects conducted in the grant have influenced a reduction in total phosphorus in Cottage Lake and its inlet streams. Further monitoring and analysis of water quality data in the next few years will help to answer these questions.

• Read this full story online.
• Story written by Tricia Shoblom, Ecology Northwest Regional Office

Telling our success stories

Water quality success stories provide a wealth of information associated with novel project designs, funding ideas, and useful resource suggestions. Some are clear successes; others supply valuable lessons to help us grow in our understanding of water quality protection and restoration. Stories illustrate successes gained from cooperation among Washington’s citizens and organizations.

Read all of our Ecology's water quality success stories, and check out our complete catalog of stories.

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Home Septic System Successes

By Dustin Bilhimer, Water Quality Program

Is your septic system acting up? When your home's septic system fails, it's more than a wet stinky mess. It's expensive to repair and it's a health hazard to you and your family.

A lot of people have learned the hard way that regular inspection and maintenance can prevent system failures and save you money in repair costs.

The Department of Ecology is working with local governments (contact your local health district here) and citizens to help cover costs for septic system repair/replacement where we find water pollution problems are caused by failing residential septic systems.

These partnerships are leading to improved working relationships between the public and government agencies. This cooperation leads to clean water solutions.

A recent success story from the Colville River watershed highlighted how homeowners received grant money from Ecology and the Conservation Commission to replace their septic systems.

Actions followed the implementation of a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study and water quality improvement plan to clean-up fecal coliform bacteria pollution in the Colville watershed. After homeowners got their problem septic systems repaired, the district's water quality monitoring began showing signs of cleaner water.

Ecology and local governments offer different combinations of loans and grants to ease the cost of replacing failing septic systems where water quality needs to be improved. Here are several examples of Ecology providing financial assistance in other parts of the state:

• Skagit County pollution reductions
• Little Bear Creek, Snohomish County
• Puget Sound and Hood Canal

Do you know how to properly maintain your septic system to prevent problems? Click here to learn how or go to Ecology’s Washington Waters homepage to learn more about what you can do to protect our water quality.

Are you interested in other water quality success stories? Click here.

Want to find out if there is a TMDL in your area? Click here.